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Hasakah, Syria – On Sunday morning, the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) took control of the village of Rafraf (10 km west of the city of Hasakah), in northeastern Syria, following two weeks of clashes with the Syrian regime forces.

Speaking to ARA News, one of the displaced people from Rafraf said that about 500 IS militants entered the village after forcing pro-regime military forces to withdraw from the area.

“The group (IS) installed several checkpoints in the vicinity of the village after controlling its entrances, and took schools and mosques as strongholds,” said the source, under the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

This coincided with violent clashes between IS militants and the pro-regime forces in other areas of the western countryside of Hasakah.

Meanwhile, civil rights activist Hozan Saeed, based in Hasakah, stated to ARA News that the pro-regime military helicopters dropped two barrel bombs on the vicinity of the IS-held al-Siddiq junction on Sunday.

“No casualties were reported.”

Saeed also mentioned the outbreak of clashes between pro-regime forces and IS militants in the southern countryside of Hasakah, while several artillery shells the village of Oum Makhroom (20 km south of Hasakah).

Recently, the city of Hasakah witnessed high tension and fear among residents of a possible offensive by IS group on the city, specifically from the western and southern sides, amid the arrival of IS reinforcements from the border town of al-Hol near Iraq.